T'U'GS 3:9 Happy Birthday
by The Big Lazy Dragon
Summary: Glasses surprises Tony Dracon with a special birthday present.


Happy Birthday

Written by Donald E. Fleming II

Story concept by Donald E. Fleming II

Disclaimer: All Gargoyles characters are the property of Disney and Buena Vista Studios and are being used without their consent or permission. Other Gargoyle characters are the property of The Gargoyle Saga (TGS) writing staff and also are being used without their permission. The character of Don Michael Taylor is my creation. I am receiving no reward for this story other than the satisfaction of being able to share it with others as it is intended solely for my own entertainment and the entertainment of Gargoyle fandom everywhere.

**Manhattan**

Delilah gloried in the freedom of the night. It had been so long since she had any time to herself she fully intended to make the most of it. At least Talon had for the most part forgiven her for her frequent disappearances while she worked as an exotic dancer to help out her human friend Kate, although he still kept a close eye on her. She had assured him that that was all behind her now, since Kate now had a well-paying job, _at Nightstone Unlimited, no less,_ and her son Danny was receiving the medical treatment he needed to keep him healthy, but still she had to admit that the temptation was there. The 'Saturn's Rings' had met with a noticeable drop in attendance since her final public appearance, and Jack had called her at least twice to beg her to come back. Talon had intercepted that second call and that had started a shouting match between her and the Mutate leader.

Of course, he did have his reasons for feeling overprotective. Kate's pimp had shot her and she would have died if not for Demona, but that didn't lessen the responsibility he felt to protect the closest thing he had to a niece. Elisa's DNA was part of her genetic structure, even if it was mixed in with Demona's, and that meant that she was a part of the family.

Still, the temptation was there…

At least now she had a way to relieve some of the temptation. She adjusted her grip on the gym bag she carried._ I could kiss Don for this idea,_ she thought. Elisa's former boyfriend, Don Taylor, had come up with an idea for her to enjoy herself without having to perform on stage. After catching a glimpse of some pictures of her in the _Daily Tattler, _he suggested that she pose for him in some of her old costumes. At first, she was unsure about the idea, but then he showed her some of the pictures he had taken recently of the rest of the clan. The picture of Angela and Broadway had become an instant favorite. And some of the preliminary shots he had taken of her at his housewarming party were very good. Of course, now she was ready for something a bit more daring. The costumes in her bag were some of the more exotic numbers she had worn at the 'Saturn's Rings'. _I can't wait to see how those pictures will turn out, _she thought happily and then another thought entered her mind. _And I can't wait to see Don's reaction when I put on…_

She was brought out of her reverie by a disturbance on the street. A car alarm was going off. She swooped down to get a closer look.

Delilah landed on the roof of an apartment building to get a look at what was going on. There, on the street, was a hunched figure trying to break into a fancy limo. She wondered about that. Most crooks would high-tail it out of there once the alarm started going off, but this guy was still at it, as if he either didn't hear the alarm or didn't care.

_Dumb, dumb, dumb,_ she thought, shaking her head. Was he that dense? Even if the police didn't show up in response to someone calling about the disturbance, surely the crooks knew that eventually a gargoyle would. Goliath's clan was very diligent when it came to stopping crimes from happening. She looked around, checking to see if any of the clan was nearby. No one in sight, she noticed. As if she needed any help. She could stop a simple car theft by herself.

Delilah put one foot on the edge of the rooftop and launched herself downwards.

The car thief was just about to get the lock open when he heard her land behind him.

He spun around and looked at her.

"Oh…no…a…gargoyle," he said dully, as he were reading from a bad movie script. "Whatever…am…I…going…to…do?"

Somewhat surprised by his lack of terror, Delilah took a step back before she regained her composure.

"That's right," she said. "I'm a gargoyle, and I caught you trying to break into this car." She reached out and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him away from the car and then shoved him away from her.

"Oh…help," he said, still acting as if he were reading the lines from a cue card. "She…is…going…to…attack…me…Someone…help…me…please."

There was something wrong about all this, she realized, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She looked at the car thief as he stood there in the middle of the sidewalk looking back at her, as if he were sizing her up. Was he a robot, she wondered? Something developed by Xanatos or Demona or one of their competitors. That would explain the odd speech pattern, especially if it was malfunctioning. But if it was a robot, then why was it stealing a car? None of this made any sense, she thought. What the hell was going…?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of compressed air and a sudden pinprick in the back of her shoulder. She spun quickly and saw another man, dark and wearing a pair of glasses, step out of the car, holding a gun. She reached around and grabbed at something that was sticking out of her shoulder. A tranquilizer dart, she realized. She'd been drugged! Then, as consciousness began to slip away, she realized what was going on.

This was a trap, and she had blundered right into it.

She sagged against the side of the car before collapsing onto the sidewalk.

"Nice performance, Joey," Glasses said as he checked to make sure the tranquilizer had taken effect. "Even had me convinced." He turned Delilah over onto her back and opened one of her eyes. "Sleeping like a baby."

"Is she the right one?" Pal Joey asked. "I mean…we didn't make a mistake and grab Goliath's kid, did we?" Joey shuddered when he thought about what would happen to them if they had grabbed Angela by mistake.

"Don't worry," Glasses said. "This is the one we want." He ruffled the white hair on the clone's head before taking the gym bag off her shoulder and getting up. He walked over to the trunk of the car and opened it, putting the bag inside and pulling out a pair of manacles and a length of chain. "Here," he said, throwing the items to Pal Joey. "Make sure you secure her good and tight. I don't want her breaking loose before we can give our birthday present to Tony."

**The Savoy Hotel**

**Penthouse Suite of Tony Dracon**

Tony Dracon looked out the window of his spacious penthouse before returning to the computer. The fencing operation he had set up was running along smoothly, and this time the cops were not going to mess things up. He was keeping a low profile this time and if anything did happen, there was no way to trace things back to him. Of course, there were his computer records, but he had made certain that only he could get at those. The encryption program that he had created made certain of that, and he had the only decryption disk. Everything was running smoothly, so why wasn't he enjoying his birthday.

He knew what it was. He had wanted to go to the 'Saturn's Rings' tonight, but since Delilah's final appearance, the place didn't seem to have the same draw on him anymore. He had to admit, for a gargoyle, she did have some great moves and had a hell of a body to match. He sighed and returned his attention to the computer.

"Hey, boss," Glasses said as he came in. "Happy Birthday."

"Yeah, right," Dracon returned as he cleared the last entry. "Just getting back from the warehouse?" Tony looked at his watch and noted the time. "I figured you would have been back before now."

"We decided to pick you up a special birthday present," Glasses said as Pal Joey and one of his other men led in a draped figure.

"Glasses, you shouldn't have," Tony said, getting up from the desk. He noted that one of the other guards had some scratches on his face and that he was fingering his gun, but Tony brushed that off as being overly cautious. He crossed the penthouse and sat on the couch. "Do I have to unwrap this present," he asked.

"Don't worry, boss," Glasses said, grabbing to top of the sheet that covered Tony's 'present'. "This gift unwraps itself. May I present the dangerously, delicious Delilah!"

Glasses yanked off the sheet, revealing the female gargoyle.

Tony's jaw dropped. There she stood, chained and manacled, and she had an angry scowl on her face. The chain was wrapped around her torso and pinned her wings to her back, preventing her from spreading them. Her arms were free for the most part; they hadn't pinned them to her side with the chain, but they had secured the manacles to the loose end at the front, keeping her from raising her arms higher than her chest. A stray lock of white hair fell between her eyes, and she blew upwards, trying to get it out of the way. She tried to struggle out of Pal Joey's grip, but she still wasn't over the effects of the tranquilizer. Tony looked at Glasses, then back to Delilah, seeing the fury in her eyes. He suddenly got the feeling she wasn't here voluntarily.

"Glasses, please tell me you didn't just yank her off the street."

"Well, we didn't think she'd come along peacefully," Glasses admitted.

"I'm trying to keep a low profile, Glasses," Tony said, looking at his second-in-command. "And I can't do that with you grabbing one of the most sought after, not to mention the only, gargoyle stripper in the city."

Delilah shot a venomous look at Dracon. "Exotic dancer!" she corrected. She had learned the distinction early on, and had to date never completely shown everything. Not that there weren't offers, Tony Dracon's being one of them.

"Sorry," Tony quickly apologized. "Gargoyle exotic dancer in the city," he amended.

Delilah managed to turn to face Glasses. "And what makes you think I wouldn't come peacefully," she challenged. She looked at Dracon for a moment before returning her attention to Glasses. "You could have asked me, or made arrangements with Jack! Private performances mean big money. You didn't have to chain me up and drug me!"

"You drugged her?" Dracon asked, surprised.

"Just a little tranquilizer, boss, " Glasses admitted. "Nothing addictive. Just something to keep her quiet and get her into the car."

"Humph," she snorted, before looking over at the guard with the scratches on his face. "Really!"

Tony got the feeling that he had tried something in the car when the tranquilizer had worn off and had found himself on the receiving end of a vicious slap to the face.

Glasses raised an eyebrow as he considered the gargoyle. "So you would have come with us if we had asked you nicely?'

"Sure, why not?" Delilah said. "Like I said. I can make a lot of money doing a private performance."

Glasses wasn't totally convinced, but Tony was. "Glasses, let her loose," he said.

"Boss, are you sure that's a good idea?" Glasses asked. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was unchain an angry gargoyle. She'd rip them apart!

"Do it!" Dracon snapped.

Glasses took the keys out of his pocket and undid the lock on the chain and then the manacles. The chain fell to the floor and Delilah quickly flared her wings, causing Glasses to jump back.

"Don't worry," she said as she settled her wings around her shoulders. "That was very uncomfortable." She rubbed her wrists to get the feeling back into them. "Now you mentioned a birthday party?"

"Yeah, his," Glasses said, motioning to Dracon. "**You** mentioned money. How much?"

"Let's see," Delilah said, bringing a talon to her teeth, as if tabulating a bill in her mind. "I usually got twenty-five hundred for a regular performance at 'Saturn's Rings', and Jack said I could make double for private performances…Five thousand," she said finally, then added, "And another two for my trouble."

"For your trouble!" Glasses almost shouted.

"Now, Glasses, be fair," Tony said. "After all, you did grab her off the street."

"Of course, if you want the full treatment," Delilah quickly put in. "That'll be another five thousand."

"What!" Glasses said. "That's twelve grand!"

"In advance," Delilah said, sticking out her hand.

"Boss…" Glasses started.

"Pay her, Glasses," Tony said. "After all, it is my birthday."

Glasses grumbled as he took a stack of bills out of his pocket and counted out twelve thousand-dollar bills then handed the money to Delilah.

"Thank you," she said, putting the money into the pocket of her red bomber jacket. Then she walked over to Tony's desk and started fingering through the CD's.

"What are you up to?" Tony asked, moving to stand next to her.

Delilah gave a seductive toss of her head as she looked at him. "I need something to dance to," she said. She turned her attention back to the CD's and picked out one that had no label. "What's this?" she asked as she began to open the jewel case.

"That, sugar," Tony said as he quickly plucked it out of her talons. "Is something you don't need to worry about." He opened the top drawer of the desk, dropped the CD inside and then closed and locked it.

Delilah realized that it must be something important but wasn't going to pursue it…yet.

"How about this one?" Tony suggested, picking out a different CD. It was a selection of Middle Eastern music.

Delilah took the CD and scanned the selections. "All right," she said. "Of course, I'll need a costume to go with this." She looked over at Glasses. "I had some in the bag I was carrying."

"Glasses," Tony said. "Her bag?"

Glasses turned to Pal Joey and sent him out to retrieve the gym bag they had taken from her. He returned with it a few minutes later. Glasses took the bag and opened it, making sure there was nothing dangerous inside before turning it over to Delilah.

Delilah handed the CD back to Tony. "Selection number five will do nicely," she said. "It's one of my favorites. I'm pretty sure it's one of yours."

"Of course," he said, reaching out to put his hand on her back. At least he tried to, but Delilah caught the movement and quickly spun out of reach.

"Ah, ah," she said, waving her finger back and forth. "No touching, Tony. At least, not yet."

"Right," he said. "Glasses."

"Right this way, please," Glasses said, motioning with his arm as he led the way to Dracon's bedroom. Delilah followed, putting a definite sway to her hips that caused not only Tony to forget how to breathe for a moment, but the rest of his men as well.

"Are you ready?" Delilah called out from the bedroom.

"Ready, willing and able, sugar," Tony called from the couch. The coffee table that was in front of the couch had been moved, at Delilah's request, so that she would have the whole floor to herself. Tony sat in the middle of the couch, almost as anxious as a kid waiting for Christmas morning.

"Music," she called out.

Tony nodded to Glasses, who turned on the sound system and inserted the CD, setting the player to the fifth track. Music began to fill the room as Delilah began her entrance.

She came out slowly, first running her shapely leg along the edge of the half opened door, then brought her arm around and began caressing the front of the door, before finally peeking her head into view. She wore a veil across the bottom half of her face, and Tony knew right away which costume she had chosen. The Seven Veils costume. _No wonder she picked that music,_ he thought. It was the music and the costume he had first seen her in, when she had first started to perform. Very nice.

Delilah slowly twirled into the room, moving one direction then another, always moving closer to the center of the room. When she got there, she began snaking her arms up in the air, then running them down her body. When she got to the first veil, she slowly peeled it away, then ever so slowly danced over to Glasses and tossed it over his head. Glasses quickly pulled it off, expecting Delilah to do something painful to him, but watched as Delilah quickly danced away from him.

Pal Joey was the recipient of the next veil, and the guard that she had scratched got the third one. That left four for Tony, and Delilah removed them in agonizingly slow succession. The first one she wrapped around the back of his neck with both hands, then let go of one end and dragged it back towards her along his arm. Tony latched on to the free end and gave a slight tug to pull her back towards him, but Delilah let go as he did, leaving him with the veil hanging in his hand. He started to get up, but then Delilah placed her hand on his chest and playfully pushed him back down, giving him a smile that was barely visible beneath the veil.

Another veil came off, this time Delilah used her tail to remove it, and for a brief instant, Tony wondered what else she could do with it. That question was quickly answered when she ran it between her breasts and then snagged the sixth veil, pulling it away. That left one more, which she pulled off then dragged it up her leg while dancing back over to Tony and laying that one across the back of his neck. Then she surprised him by pulling him up with it and kissing him full on the lips through the veil she still wore across her face. Tony was so stunned that when she let him go, he fell back, missed the couch and ended up on the floor. He quickly worked his way back onto the couch as the music reached its climax, and he could almost swear Delilah reached hers at the same time, and then the music was over, and Delilah was kneeling on the floor before him, her head bent down almost against his knees. Her heavy breathing was audible over the absolute silence in the penthouse, and Tony found himself looking around to see if he was suddenly alone with her.

"Wow," Pal Joey finally said, breaking the silence.

"You said it," Glasses agreed. Even he had been stunned silent by her performance.

Tony carefully removed the veil covering Delilah's mouth, and then reached out to touch her face. Before he could touch her, Delilah snapped playfully at his fingers, laughing seductively.

"I'd say that that was definitely worth twelve grand," Glasses had to admit.

"And it's not over yet," Delilah said.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked. He reached out to her a second time, knowing that she wasn't going to snap his fingers off.

He was almost wrong. Delilah snapped again, a little quicker this time, and she snared his index finger between her teeth. He almost jerked back, risking losing the finger in her mouth, but her hand quickly shot up and snared his wrist. Glasses took a step forward, but then caught the look of pleasure appear on Tony's face as Delilah began sucking on the digit, then licking it before removing it from her mouth to begin kissing the rest of his hand.

"Now comes the full treatment," she said. Keeping a grip on his wrist Delilah stood up, pulling Tony with her, and began walking backwards towards the bedroom.

"Uh, boss," Glasses started. "What do you want us to do?"

Dracon shot a look over his shoulder as he neared the door. "I don't know," he said. "Hang out, grab a sn…snack," he stumbled over the word when Delilah began working her tongue over his wrist. "Go do inventory. Something. I don't care."

"But…" Glasses began, but then Tony was yanked out of sight and the bedroom door closed with a slam.

Glasses was at the door in an instant. His hand closed on the handle before he caught the sound coming from inside. Not the sound of a fight, not the sound of his boss being ripped to very small pieces, but something else. Something no one in his right mind would walk in on.

"What do we do?" Pal Joey asked, just before a catlike screech penetrated the walls, followed by another yell best described as "Whah-hoo!"

Glasses backed away from the door. "Inventory," he said. "We do inventory."

Glasses checked his watch. It was almost five in the morning. They had been at the warehouse for a good six hours now, doing nothing but stand around waiting for Tony to show up. He normally showed up by four thirty, but then it was his birthday, and from what they had heard as they left the penthouse, Delilah was well on her way to giving Tony "the full treatment", whatever that was. For one gut-wrenching moment, Glasses wondered if it entailed Tony's insides being splattered all over the place. The image of a blood-soaked Delilah roaring triumphantly over Tony's mangled corpse flickered across his mind's eye and refused to go away.

"Joey," he called out. "Let's go."

The expression on Pal Joey's face as he came running over told Glasses that he had had the same dark image on his mind.

"You don't think…" Pal Joey began as they reached the door.

"God, I hope not," Glasses said. But as he reached for the door handle, the door was suddenly kicked open and Detective Matt Bluestone entered the warehouse, backed up by several cops.

"Hello, Glasses," he said as loading dock doors were pulled open and a dozen uniformed officers stormed into the warehouse. "Long time, no see."

"What do you want, Bluestone," Glasses said, resisting the urge to go for his gun, which Matt found as he frisked him anyway.

"Well, besides illegal possession of a firearm," Matt said as he turned the handgun over to Sara Jasper, who had accompanied him to the warehouse. "We've got all this stuff here."

"This is all legit," Pal Joey protested as he was frisked and another illegal possession was added.

"Sure it is, Joey," Matt said. "And I'm sure that this disk will show that." Matt took a computer diskette out of his pocket and waved it in front of Glasses' nose.

"Where did you get that?" he asked.

Sara Jasper took a veil out of her pocket and draped it over her head. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Oh, no," Glasses moaned.

**Savoy Hotel**

Tony Dracon didn't wake up so much as regain consciousness.

He tried to turn his head to look at the clock to see what time it was but gave up after discovering just how much it hurt to move his head. He tried to turn over onto his back, but the effort to do that hurt. He tried to move his legs, but they hurt, too. Even his eyelids hurt. It was like he was one enormous exposed nerve. "God, now I know how Indiana Jones felt after being dragged behind that damned truck," he moaned. He tried to will his arms into motion in order to get himself up, but his arms refused to move. For a minute, he was afraid that Delilah had paralyzed him, but he felt the fingers on his right hand move and his toes curl, not to mention the pain _doing that_ caused, so he didn't worry about that too much.

_Maybe I'll just wait for Glasses to get back,_ he thought. _And have him…_

Detective Elisa Maza burst into the bedroom gun drawn, and pointed it at Tony's prone form on the bed. "Okay, Dracon," she said. "Don't…move?"

Tony moaned as he opened his eye, trying to focus on her. "You couldn't get me to move if you set my hair on fire, Elisa," he groaned loudly.

Elisa smiled as she lowered her gun. "You can put your guns away, guys," she said to the other officers who had entered the room. "I don't think Tony's going to give us any trouble. Are you, Tony?"

Tony moaned again as he felt Elisa slap him on the butt, which thankfully, although whether by coincidence or by design on Delilah's part, was covered by the bedsheet.

He heard Elisa move to the door and talk to another officer. "Have you got anything?"

There was a moment's pause before she got a reply. "Got it, detective," the reply came. "Right where you said it'd be."

"Run it," Elisa said. "And let me know what turns up."

_What was she…_Tony thought, but then he realized what was going on. "Oh, no," he groaned.

Elisa heard him groan and smiled. "That's right, Tony. We got your boys with a warehouse full of stolen goods, and the records in your computer will help to put you away for a long, long time."

Tony somehow managed a smile, as if he still knew something she didn't. "You won't find much, sugar," he said, trying to sound defiant.

Elisa smiled knowingly, and Dracon realized what that meant. They had his decryption disk. He moaned again.

As Elisa turned to leave the bedroom, he called to her. "Elisa?"

"What is it, Tony?" she asked from the door.

"Do me one big favor."

"What?"

"Shoot me."

"What?" she asked, surprised by his request.

"Shoot me. Put me out of my misery. Please."

It looked for a minute like she was considering granting his request.

"Sorry, Tony," she said. "No can do."

"Why not?" he asked.

"I hate doing the paperwork," she said as she walked out the door.

Tony groaned.

**The Eyrie Building**

Elisa related the news of Tony Dracon's rather anti-climactic capture to the rest of the clan that night and she was enjoying every minute of it.

"You should have seen poor Tony," she said, barely containing the laughter that threatened to overtake her. "They had to wheel him out of there on a stretcher."

"No staying power whatsoever," Delilah half-sneered, barely able to keep from laughing herself. She was leaning against the wall and flicking bits of dirt out from beneath her talons with her thumb. After giving Tony the 'full treatment', Delilah had sneaked out of the bedroom, hacked into his computer, and had taken what she found to Elisa, who arranged for a birthday surprise of her own.

"Where did they take him?" Goliath asked.

"Manhattan General," Elisa said. "After he recovers," she looked at Delilah as she said this, "he's going to be arraigned and sent back to Ryker's."

"For good, I hope," Goliath said.

"One can only hope," Elisa said. "But at least he and his buddies won't be snatching any gargoyles off the street anymore." She crossed over to Delilah and put her hand on the gargoyle's shoulder. "Thanks for the assist, Delilah."

"Happy I could help," she said, beaming.

"However," Elisa continued, before drawing her aside out of earshot of the rest of the clan. "Did you have to do _that _to him?"

"What can I say," Delilah said. "I was upset. Besides," she continued, taking a wad of bills out of her jacket pocket and gave it a little wave. "He got what he paid for."

"What?" Goliath asked, and Elisa realized that the clan had clustered around them at the sight of the money.

"Never you mind, Goliath," Elisa said quickly. "It's a…"

"Trade secret," Delilah finished the sentence when she realized that Elisa was not going to be able to without completely embarrassing herself.

"Just what do ye plan to do with all that money, lass?" Hudson asked.

"Danny's needs things for school," Delilah said. "New clothes, school supplies, other things." She counted out a sizable amount and separated it from the stack. "I give this to Kate, for Danny."

"And the rest?" Goliath asked.

"Oh, I have an idea about what to do with it," Delilah said with a devilish grin.

**Manhattan General Hospital**

It didn't hurt quite so much any more, Tony decided. At least he could move his head and arms with wanting to die from it.

Although, he wasn't sure if that wouldn't have been such a bad thing.

He had been brought down again. By another Maza, no less. Of course, that wasn't Delilah's last name, actually she didn't have one, but he knew about her genetic heritage. Part Elisa Maza, part gargoyle. He certainly did not want to find out which one. Not if she was anything like Delilah.

Delilah…God, the things she had done to him. It would have been fantastic if it hadn't been so painful. When he had wondered just what she could do with her tail, he hadn't imagined that she would actually show him. The first half-hour had been great, but then…

_I guess this falls under the heading of 'Be careful what you wish for, Tony'_ he thought. At least, she hadn't killed him, but then he wondered if it would have been more merciful if she had.

The door to the hospital room opened up and an orderly came in carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"Someone must really like you, Dracon," Sargent Morgan said, following the orderly in. "That spread looks like it cost quite a bundle."

"I wonder who it's from," Tony said.

Morgan reached into the bouquet and pulled out a card. "Only one way to find out," he said, handing it to Tony.

Tony opened it and looked at the message inside.

_Until next time, Tony._

_Love, _

_Delilah._

Morgan saw Tony blanch as he let the card drop from his fingers.

"You okay, Dracon," he asked, mock concern on his face.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'd be better off staying in prison this time?" he said.

The End


End file.
